Controversial Law of Cause and Effect
by Roshi Hogen Berman
Laws of the Universe
As the blazing fire turns firewood
Into ashes, so does the fire of
Knowledge burn to ashes all
Reactions to material activities.
There is a natural law of the universe that encompasses all the causes of the events in our lives; it is the Law of Cause and Effect. It is the umbrella under which several classifications of action take place which eventually are seen to be causes of events or effects in this universe and in our lives.
Frequently we assign credit or charge a relatively recent action as being the cause of a current event or effect; however this hypothesis may or may not be valid because generally effects are the result of multiple causes that may encompass more than one class of causal actions. Often the causes of a propensity to respond to events in a certain way are very subtle and may not be immediately recognizable as valid causes of a specific event. For example a very young child may begin developing a sneaky character trait by taking (stealing) pencils and erasers from his/her school mates. As he/she matures the items pilfered may grow in size and value after each success. When fully mature and thus far successful, he/she may progress to automobiles, robbing stores, and eventually banks may become the target; the character trait to "get things by stealing" may have become an indelible way of life for the doer of such deeds. In such cases the initial cause (or causes) dates way back to the person's elementary school days. It is also possible that the cause(s) may have originated so far in the past that they predate the doer's birth in this life cycle (In the case of sentient beings).
Some think it is possible that a skill or propensity to act a certain way is the result of genetic inheritance, but even the Genetic Engineers have not been able to verify this hypotheses. In addition, in the case of sentient beings, many thoughts are entertained mentally, but not acted upon; never the less they are often entertained as possible actions in similar events and eventually as they gain strength cumulatively - they probably will be acted upon. The more often we entertain the same or a similar thought in relation to similar events, the more likely we are to eventually act upon the content of that thought pattern. One's propensity to react a certain way is intensified with each successful or satisfying repetition, much like a person becomes soaking wet while walking in a dense fog. Often the initial like- type thought is buried so deep that no amount of introspection allows us to discover the genesis of the thought pattern that started us on this particular path.
The Law of Cause and Effect has been analyzed and debated by prominent Philosophers going back in time prior to the Christian era to Aristotle, (284-322 B.C.) the famous Greek Philosopher.
Aristotle established four classifications of causes: He labeled them the material, the formal, the efficient, and the final . He proposed that the material cause is what a thing is made of, e.g. the bricks used to build a structure; in building a house, the style of architecture would be the formal cause; the efficient cause would be the immediate power acting to produce the work, such as the manual energy of the laborers. The final cause is the end reason for which the work is produced - that is - in this case the pleasure of the owner. I have difficulty assigning these causes to the events of every day mundane life as I understand them and consequently feel the cause aspect should be redefined and simplified so that the average person can understand the applicability of the components in daily mundane life and its events.
It is interesting to note that I am not alone in challenging Aristotle's partitions. Apparently many modern Philosophers were dissatisfied with them as well. For example, the French philosopher Rene' Descartes and his followers believed that a "cause" contains the qualities of the effect or the power to produce the effect; a reasonably valid hypotheses.
The British philosopher David Hume put forth the contention that causality is not a real relationship, but a fiction of the mind. If I understand Hume correctly, I must disagree with his hypotheses. Among sentient beings causality has a valid relationship with the effect and is at that moment a reality in one's mind and if it becomes an experience it may become an indelible notation in the subconscious mind.
Hume's hypotheses lead Immanuel Kant to propose that causality is one of the principles of coherence obtained in the world of phenomena and are universally present because thought, as part of its contribution to the nature of the world, always puts it there.
Many other modern philosophers deny the ultimate reality, or at least the fundamental validity, of the causal relationship. The American Philosopher Josiah Royce maintained that the category of serial order, of which the category of cause is a particular case, is itself subordinate to the ultimate category of purpose (or intent). Concurrently the French Philosopher, Henri Bergson, maintains that ultimate reality is not bound by exact causal sequences. He claimed it is a process of growth in which the unpredictable and therefore what may be thought of as the uncaused constantly occurs. No exact repetition happens in real time; and where there is no repetition, there is no cause, for cause means that the antecedent is repeatedly followed by the same sequence. I cannot agree that there are events that are "uncaused". Often we may not understand the cause, but be assured that every event has a series of causes buried deep in the past. I also do not agree that when there is no repetition there is no cause. Often we take action to an event and the effect is not one that we desire; we probably would not repeat that action or cause the next time a similar event occurs.
I have seriously evaluated my perception of the law of cause and effect and have concluded that the cause of any event is a preceding sensory contact in the case of sentient beings (or one or more of the other classes of causes in the case of insentient things) without which the event in question would not have occurred. The preceding causes may consist of manifold decisions to do and/or one or more of the other classes of causes; thus often resulting in multiple causes to a given event.
I have divided the Law of Cause and Effect into five broad simple and clear compartments that should be understandable to all:
#1. Acts of Nature: i.e. storms, hurricanes, typhoons, tournedos, earth quakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, tidal waves etc. (some Theistic religions attempt to attribute these events to a God, but I cannot do that.). We know that hurricanes and typhoons are caused by the mixing of hot and cold air streams in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean area in the Far East and in the South Atlantic and Caribbean Area in the west. Thus we can assign the mixing of these wind currents as the initial cause of the hurricane or typhoon, but we may not be able to determine the cause of the hot and cold air masses. The hurricanes and typhoons in turn cause catastrophic damage and suffering for the residents of the areas where they land in urban communities and the casual chain of cause and effect continues like the ripples in the pond after a large stone has disturbed the placid surface.
#2. Accidents: Accidents are generally defined as unexpected, undesirable events, e.g. an automobile slipping and skidding on an icy road and crashing into another object is an example of an unforeseen incident.
- Incidents that occur that are truly accidental. The participants were awake and consciously aware of their circumstance the moment the event happened, i.e. they were paying close attention to what they were doing.
- Often in the case of sentient beings (particularly human beings) an event may appear on the surface to be an accident, but may actually be caused by carelessness, stupidity, recklessness, those involved being under the influence of drugs or intoxicated with alcohol to the point of being unaware of the danger they may be bringing upon themselves and others. One or more of these conditions may be the actual causes of the event and investigation may show that it was truly not an accident. It should be clear that such behavior usually does not have its genesis in the current event or action. It is just a contributing factor related to conduct that my have began earlier in one's life and repeated often enough to become a character trait of recklessness, drunk driving and the use of other mind bending/controlling narcotics, which developed the habit of one putting themselves and others in harms way. Often such conduct falls under the classification of Karma rather than accidental events and as such the doer of such deeds will harvest future events in their life on the basis of what they have sown.
#3. Non-thinking actions: Non thinking actions (causes) are those deeds performed when similar conditions or circumstances arise in life's situations repeatedly to the point that the response to them becomes habitual - for example reactions based upon long strict training. It's possible that the initial effect was experienced earlier in this or an earlier life cycle and the action taken produced the desired results. Thus when a similar situation is faced, the same action once again gave the desired effect. On this basis, each time a similar situation is confronted the same action may be repeated again and again without thinking since it has constantly produced the desired effect in the past. These types of habits encompass both wholesome and unwholesome deeds and thoughts entertained. The determination of the deed being wholesome or unwholesome is based upon the actor's intent at that moment, taking the time, place, who was involved, social/community customs and other variables influencing the act and anticipated event into consideration.
#4. Karma: Actions based upon a volitional decision to do. Generally it is thought of as The Law of Karma although it is actually a sub-element of the Law of Cause and Effect. Most scholars of the Far East and South East Asia define Karmic actions as being mental only, mental and physical, mental and vocal (or verbal) or mental, physical and verbal. I'm sure you notice that mental ability is always included as an essential element of the series. I suggest that this definition is true of the terms, "What you sow" and "what you send around", but not necessarily applicable to what is encompassed by the technical definition of Karma.
It should be clear that the Law of Karma does not have some omniscient being keeping score or tracking your good and evil deeds. This law has no capability to determine good or bad, wholesome or unwholesome, virtuous or evil. We all know that there are many variables that may cause an action to be this or that; often an action performed on one side of the city is perfectly acceptable in that environment while if performed on the other side of town or at another time of the day, it may be construed to be unwholesome. Actions performed in one country are often acceptable while in another they may be rude or criminal. The determination as to whether a Karmic deed is wholesome or unwholesome is really made by the individual based upon his/her intent when making the decision to perform the deed and how it is perceived in the community where it is performed.
The true secret regarding the Law of Karma is that there is no secret. It does not require great philosophical analysis, religious precepts, commandments or dogmatic doctrine; one doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that the future of each living being is dictated by the mental actions that they volitional entertain today. It is a very simple element of the Law of Cause and Effect and Karma. If one volitionally with intent deceives others, he/she will soon become known as a liar (the natural follow-on effect) and suffer all of the related consequences, first on a mental level in his/her own mind (the karmic reaction) and then on an extended level in the physical world as the Law of Cause and Effect demands its payment. If a person kills or steals, they don't have to be overly intelligent to realize that sooner or later they will be required to pay the price for these deeds. Those who participate in sexual misconduct, or in any way use or deal in intoxicants and drugs begin their suffering and woe even as the thought of doing is formed and volitionally retained in the mind for their entertainment (i.e. their character is affected almost immediately). The law of Karma simply states that one cannot consciously plant garlic and anticipate harvesting sweet melons.
#5. Cause beyond explanation: Here we could list miracles. Miracles are defined as events that appear inexplicable by man's understanding of the laws of nature and so are held to be supernatural in origin - some call them acts of a God.
These five categories are clear and easy to understand. The Law of cause and effect is much like the natural Law of Gravity in that it does not matter whether you believe or understand it; never the less it plays a major roll in your everyday life. Pretend we drop a ball from the roof of a tall building. The ball, although totally ignorant and an inanimate material object (i.e. insentient ), would fall toward the earth at an accelerating rate of 33 feet every second. The same fall would be experienced by an intelligent sentient reasoning thinking being regardless of how much they know or don't know about the law of gravity. Despite one's ignorance of earth's gravity, any object (or living being) falls as rapidly as the inanimate ball. The same holds true for the law of cause and effect and its component parts. Every action creates an effect and every effect is generated by some kind of action regardless of how much or how little we know and understand about the causal relationship and if we act volitionally with a conscious decision "to do" - we eventually will harvest the effects we have earned.
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